totallyjeneric

Dear James,

You’re almost seven months old and I’m liking this stage a lot; could you please stay like this a while?

The last two months have been pretty exciting and I need to be more diligent about writing stuff down!  Since the last “letter”, you reached 0.5 years of age and your world keeps on expanding!  We introduced “solid foods” and for the record you’ve eaten rice cereal, oatmeal, banana, sweet potato, prunes, and winter squash… and seem to love them all.  We also tried avocado and pears, but not sure if you’re allergic…?  You open wide when we say “aaaaah” (so cute) and have mastered how to swallow off a spoon… you’re a pretty fast eater and we’re up to two meals a day, though still drinking milk approx 6 times a day.  And with the change in diet came a change in diapers… as well as constipation, oh my goodness… we’ve never thought and prayed about poop so much before… but thank God all is well now and we learned our lesson: a “p” fruit each day (prune, peach, pear, pineapple, papaya, etc) keeps poopy worries away.  (lame, i know. )

A couple people came to visit you back in October… Auntie Hannah and your ye-ye… and you certainly made quite an impression on both!  We had fun playing tourist with them (we went to the aquarium! the beach! the pool! you swam for the first time! and watched the entire film at pearl harbor without making a peep!), but boy did it mess with your routine and sleep schedule.  You reverted to crying at bedtime, and I was worried our sleep training had been undone, but thank God it was just a phase and you seem back to normal now.  Bedtime around 7:30ish (rough estimate) and usually 2 naps a day.

At your last doctor appt you got 4 shots and weighed in at approx. 18 pounds… it appears that your growth is plateauing, for which my arms and back thank you!  Health-wise everything is looking good, for which we are also thankful.

You’re babbling “ma ma ma ma mommm” and screaming a lot more nowadays. It is apparent when you are unhappy. You’ve found your toes. You put everything in your mouth: books, clothes, toys, my fingers, tags, string.  You like when we read to you. (”No biting your friends!” “Froggggyyy!”) You fall asleep with my shirt, sniffing my scent. You’re rolling around to the point that it’s become dangerous to leave you on the bed… but still no sign of crawling or cruising, so you’re not totally mobile yet.  Part of me can’t wait to see you crawl, but the other part of me knows it’s probably easier while you can’t.

As you become more aware, it takes more energy and effort to entertain you during the day, and I find myself feeling tired, inadequate, and guilty at times. I wonder if I’m boring you with the same sounds and songs over and over again… or not stimulating you enough because I stopped narrating a while back (honestly I got tired of talking so much)… and I feel bad turning on the TV, but sometimes it’s the only way I get a chance to eat or pee or stay sane… and then there’s the question of taking you out (to the mall, the park, a play date, etc) cause on one hand, it’s “stimulating”, but on the other hand, sometimes it messes with your naps and mealtimes and I feel selfish making you “suffer” for the sake of me going out… UGH.  I love being a mom, but it is by no means easy!!  I need wisdom! What has helped is a book we’re reading for parenting class at church, called “Sacred Parenting.”  Chapter 3 was on guilt and I’m still digesting it, but it is helping.  Maybe I’ll share that later on.

I am, however, cherishing this year off to be a stay-at-home mom. I bet it’ll be hard to go back to work, but I’m not thinking about it too much yet… it’s still far away (or so I tell myself).

Anyway. So I finally wrote some stuff down. It might not be cohesive or entertaining, but at least I wrote!  It’s 1:56am and I need to sleep because you’ll likely wake up around 5am, maybe 6 if we’re lucky, ready to play.  I love you, James.  Your dad and I agreed, best 6.5 months of our lives so far.

Love, mom

It’s your mother here! Your mother who has a million little thoughts floating around in her head and no time to write them down. Your mother who cannot get the ironing done because you’d rather play than nap! Your mother who was insanely proud the first time you rolled over a couple days ago, but is now brainstorming ways to stop the rolling because your limbs are getting stuck between crib bars! Your mother, whose head is going bald because you keep pulling her hair out! Your mother, a.k.a. your cow, your entertainment, your ride, your paparazzi, your biggest fan!

You are almost 5 months old and growing everyday. It was an initially rough month because SLEEP TRAINING WAS THE PITS, but now a joyous month because WE SURVIVED and now THE CRIB IS YOUR FRIEND! Hehe! I bet in a few months or years, we’ll look back and think sleep training was piece of cake compared to potty training, temper tantrums, the first time you get sick, etc.  But sleep training has, to date, been the most challenging experience of parenting so far.  It was very heart-wrenching to let you cry yourself to sleep and not be able to pick you up…. and boy did you CRY, like an hour to hour and a half every night!  (You don’t remember any of this, right?)  And if that wasn’t hard enough to listen to, what’s worse was that you seemed different during the daytime… quieter, sad, hurt, potentially traumatized.  I felt guilty and uncertain and seriously afraid that I had lost my happy baby and permanently scarred you!  When you returned to your smiley self a few days later, I was very, very relieved.  And now, we are so lucky… you are a good boy… when we put you down at bedtime, you don’t fuss too much and have learned to fall asleep on your own.  Most nights you’ll sleep for at least 8 hours!  Yay James!  (Though every so often you throw us a curve ball and wake much earlier, but we can’t complain.)  Now onto nap training…

Other developments in the past month: you learned to roll over! You grab at objects! You stand tall without wobbling! You giggle! You went on 2 playdates! Your hair is growing back! You’re 16+ pounds! Your mother and father’s bodies are starting to ache! You got the green light to start solid foods and go swimming! Your grandparents bought you Sophie the Giraffe! You put everything in your mouth! You went to your first wedding! You met your Aunt Amy & Uncle Dave from Pennsylvania! You are overflowing with DROOL!

It’s also been an expensive month!  Goodness, things add up FAST!  We recently purchased a jogging stroller, a baby carrier, a rug & vacuum cleaner, a bumbo seat, and size 3 diapers just to name a few.  But you’re worth it, James, and we’re blessed to be able to afford such luxuries.

I love being your mom.  Smothering you with kisses, making silly sounds, playing “superbaby!”, clipping your tiny nails, lotion-ing you, singing Amazing Grace, and tucking you in at night.  When you’re fast asleep, I ask God to protect you, grow you, bless you.  To make you a happy, healthy, and holy little boy.  And to give me, as your mother, extra wisdom, strength, patience, faith, and love to raise you.  Every night I pray for these things, and just looking at the past few months, I know that He hears and honors my requests.  So when you’re grown and reading this (wow that will be something!) I hope you recognize that God has been guiding your life from day one!

Love to the infinity,
Mom <3